he then shook it until the crystals inside glowed a soft green. An ordinary flashlight or a flare would be too bright in this all-encompassing blackness. Too easy to spot from a distance. This thing would give off enough light to see by and still be hard to spot by their enemies. Carefully he inspected the shelter. The eerie green light glowed and cast soft, indistinct shadows on the rock walls. His right hand gripping the rifle, he held the light up high in his left as he squinted into the darkness.
“What do you see?”
He winced as her voice seemed to echo in the stony enclosure, and he hoped to hell the place was as empty as it seemed.
“Quiet.” His voice was hardly more than a raspy hush of sound. And still it traveled back to her with no problem.
“And what does quiet look like?” she muttered.
Travis grinned reluctantly and shook his head. This damn woman was as stubborn as he was. A moment later, though, the smile on his face faded as he concentrated on the task at hand. The walls were solid, no holes where critters could crawl or slither through from somewhere else. There was no sign of human habitation in here, but there was always the threat of snakes. Growing up in Texas had given him a healthy respect for the reptiles, and he sure as hell didn’t want any surprises while they slept.
Damn, his eyes felt heavy. Gritty. As though he hadn’t slept in a year. He blinked, shook his head again and focused. As he did, a slight movement caught the corner of his eye, and he turned his head to follow the snake’s movement. Just one, it was moving fast across the sandy ground.
“Damn it,” he whispered, knowing he couldn’t risk a gunshot to kill it. He’d been prepared to fire on a hostile human, but he’d rather not risk a rifle shot being heard for miles for the sake of killing a snake. Gritting his teeth, Travis set his rifle down, grabbed his knife and killed it, neatly slicing its head from its body.
Then he stood and gave a last look around. Everything else was secure. If the snake had had friends, they were long gone. The cave wasn’t much, but it looked damn good to him at the moment. They were safe—for now. They could get some rest and hide until he figured out the best route to get out of this country.
“What’s going on back there?” she called, and he heard the fear in her voice.
That woman could drive a saint right out of heaven, he thought. But then, a part of him couldn’t really blame her for being scared. She’d already been through more than most folks would face in a lifetime, and to give her her due, she hadn’t folded. And Travis admired grit in a person, male or female.
Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t wish she was anywhere but there. But wishes wouldn’t do a damn bit of good. They were stuck together. And the fact that she was too blasted good-looking for comfort shouldn’t come into it. She was his responsibility—nothing else. He’d best remember that. “It’s okay,” he said. “You can come in now.”
“Good,” she said, and her voice told him how quickly she was making her way down the length of the cave. “I was getting worried back there by myself. You know you could have left me one of your little Halloween pumpkin light thingies.”
“It’s a chem light. Not the kind used in pumpkins.”
“Whatever,” she said, and he watched her walk into the circle of soft-green light. “The point is, it’s really dark in here and I—”
Her voice broke off as her gaze fastened on the dead snake. She took several deep breaths, slapped one hand to her chest and said, “Oh, God.”
“It’s dead.”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” Eyes wide, she backed up and looked around frantically as if expecting to see a pack of snakes sneaking up on her flank.
He bent down, picked up the carcass and held it up admiringly. At least a three-footer. “You’ll think better of it once it’s cooked.”
“Cooked?”
Travis could have sworn he heard her gag.
“Waste not, want not,” he told her.
“Look before you leap,” she countered.
“He who hesitates is lost,” he said, figuring this could go on awhile.
“He who eats snake will get sick,” she told him.
“That’s not an old saying.”
“It’s one of my favorites,” she said. “As of right now.”
Travis laughed shortly and set his pack down, then laid the snake alongside it. Jamming the end of the light into the sand at his feet, he said, “Have a seat. I’m going out to gather some brush. We can make a small fire.”
“You’re leaving me here?” she asked, lifting one hand to point at the snake. “With that?”
“Trust me,” he said tightly, “you’re more dangerous than he is.”
She swung her hair back from her eyes, and in the green glow those blue eyes gleamed like sapphires. Her face pale, her features drawn with fatigue and fear, she was still pretty enough to take a man’s breath away.
And he realized he’d been right.
She was dangerous.
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